Process for producing carbon black



July 21, 1931.

E. KROCH PROCESS FOR PRODUCING CARBON BLACK i ,Patentedi'July y93^1 iAiiazlarriV oFFicE- '2.y fl.niunarcfxnocn, on NEW, YORK, N. Y.

' This invention'fre'lates to the "manufacture of carbon blacknfroin'natural gas and other agaseous lmixturiev'sifofy lwhich theV chief cornponent is,methanelsf'fi' manufacturing "carbon black, gas blackr or lamp black, Whichfare'basedupon the' prin- `Vciple of` incomplete combustion give excellent products. Howeventhe yield of carbon"r :1o black .from a given quantity ofy gasl is, veryv low l'and unsatisfactory, and as a consequence "the: product, thoughk excellent, is-very high priced.vr 1 The yieldy of' cafrbonblacky byk the present 'knownin'ethods of productionby in- .15l complete combustion; varyffrom 0.813015' pounds per 1A1,00O-f`cubicffeet of gas. i

The other classes loi known .methods of produciiigcarbon black 'which `are based `upon the principles ofthermal decomposition of 11120 lthefiiaturalgas, vrWith orlwitho-ut the use .of

.catalytic or chemical reagents, giver yinfcer-y tain instances. considerably lhigher yields than 0.8to'1i5 rpounds per 1,000cubicffeet of gas, but thev quality of rthe-productisr poor .1;255a'nd`itsfprice is several times lowervthan lthe *carbon black {obtained Ithe .combustion ',Thepr'esent invention is an improvement Vi-'n 'the operation 'of the fold;VY system carbon v30 blackprocess basedfupony the direct combus- A.tion principle,` andfzfvvhich.aloney is able to Y :produce a highgradeV ,carbony black'.k "The basisof the present-,invention is an enrichof 'the original gasfin higher hydrocarbons, particularly in ethane and ethylene,

- the presencepof which in the natural gashas i l 'been foundresponsible forjthe plant records i eil-@ang yields ofiy tifrl-reundslpef 15000 -'cubic feet yof gasp@ y y y n 40 *The present invention has foronefof its objects the enrichmentjoffthe original or natural-gas 'or' of *gas containing k'methane with. ethane, 'ethylene..V or an; ethanej-ethylene f mixture or-fother,k lighthydrocarbons heavier 1. -tha1,1fmethai1e,and particularly such hydroi Appiieauo'n siaiuay a, 1927.y seriaiNo. 188,563.

ftheatmosphere, or' gaseous phase, which af- 'Whenapplied to the productionthereof..

j I have found that by loading methane., or

natural or other gas containingmethane, esf y, pecially gases containing a high percentage t `rlr651 ffrnocn'ssrorg PRoDUoING cARBoNABLAcK carbons which are prepared yin accordance '.With the cracking process herein described, and forming another object of the present invention.; The source' of these hydrocarbons is the cracking gases produced by cracking of any mineral crude or residual oils,

'or similar oils under special conditions vof temperature, pressure and particularly of feet equilibrium'of the cracking reaction, according to the laws of chemical equilibrium, inY such a manner that constituents of the y gas or chemical compounds are brought into r-being whichk are vcapable of yielding great u Y quantities of'carbon black per unit volume otmethane, with vaporized mineral oil and :passing thek mixturey through a convenient cracking device that a" high content of vethane c i and ethylene Will appear in the gas mixture y K n yafter cracking. I The presence of niethaneinl -the 'crackingareaction affectsv the chemical equilibrium in the direction of a high ethanezethylenevyield `By mixing the' gas so vpre- -pared with `untreated original gas, a gas mix- `rture results which has'been found to give 2O f Y to 60% higher yields offcarbon black than the'7'5' original "gas ywhen subsequently burnt 'by known methods of producing carbon black by combustion. j The gas mixture resulting fromthe cracking operation may be directly burned for producing carbon black Without?L mixing with original,y natural, or methane containing gas. f

kA furthery description of the invention will now be undertakenwith reference to the acf companyingdrawing which shows diagrain` 'fmaticallythe apparatus used. In the drawing the numeral'l indicates a carburetor in which' heavy hydrocarbons for example'crude mineral` oils, or y'residual oils, or like.` oils are heated by the C55 i, y y

steam coil Ll, or othersuitable f y "by means of the pump 2. Ycirculation of a part ofthe' liquid can be ef- 1 tected by means ofthe pump and its pipe conheating means. r1`he carbureting oil from the tank 6 is pushed through thercarburetor 1 1f desired a renections With the base of the carburetor. The spray nozzle 3 having the purpose to vpulveri'ze the oil is situated near the top of the carburetor.

The oil thus passes irom the tank 6 ,and eventually from the base of the column to the header 3 in a substantially buretor should be maintained at sucha tem` pera-ture that volatile parts suitable for the 4subsequent cracking operation are charged 1n the case of crude oil oroil be from about into the gas. residue, this temperature may YThe gas `leaves*thetcarburetor at and entersa trap8 for arresting particles of unvaporized oilfvvhich may be mechanically carriedalong With the gas. From the trap 8 the gas charged With vapor passes through an automatic pressure regulating valve 9 and then enters they cracking furnace 10 Where the transformation of the higher hydrocarbons ,into the lighter ones and principally Vinto ethaneand ethylene takes place. The proportion of heavyhydrocarbons to natural or other gas may be about from 1 to 12 pounds yper 1,000 cubic feet Vupon entering the crackcontained only 0 to-5%. f `The cracking device may ing chamber 10." rheabsolute pressure in the cracking chamber may range fromr about 0.2 yto 5 atmospheres While the temperature may y vary fromO Ato 1200o C. Underthese con- Y ditions of operation natural gas may be gi'vli'ng an ethane-ethylen'e content of about 10 to 40% Whereas, the original gas may have construction*` utilizing heated bodies. r1`he kcracking device 10 yshown in theidravving is provided WithV an outside heatingchamber i 12.for the passing'ofhe'ating gasesfand an -inside heating or cracking` chamber 11,v containing sections forr inducingfuni'form heating `ofthe gases during the cracking` operation. .The outlet of the cracking' chamber is controlled by automatic valve 13, for maintaining the desired pressure Within the cham- *ber'11L After passing through the automatic 'valve 13 the gases pass through the cooler 14 j for removing condensible constitutents if any,

and for bringing the gas down: to 'suitable conditions "of temperature `which* is below 2509 C.j A part of the heat of the gases can be better utilized for preheating of the gas in 10. Any condensed constitutents in 14 are i F 'removed through the` valve controlled pipe 15. The gas then leaves the coolers at 16 and entersv either directly through thepvalve 18 and the mixer19into the gas line, or, through in; determining the proportion in be of any provenv rthrough the valve 21 and the mixer 22 into the gas line. The purpose of purification is Y to remove it present such constitutents of the gas mixture Which could be detrimental for obtaining a high grade of carbon black. The removal ofsuch constituents, forV example of the sulphur compounds, isefected by means of suitable liquid or solid absorbents as commonly used for gas purication. The valves in the various vpipes may be used to produce the liovv of gases desired. The valves-24 and 25 maybe used to control the volume of gas passing through the main line 23 and the branch line leading to the carburetor l. n v

The'ethane-ethylene mixture may be mixed Withthe originalv natural or other gas in any suitable'proportions to form an eiiicient combustion mixturefor the carbon black apparatus. The composition of the ethaneethylene mixture` as vvelll'as the composition of the original gasvvill necessarily -beactors `which the tvvo gases should bemixed. .r f

Having described vy invention kWhat I claimisif n f 1. The process of producing carbon black Which 'comprises cracking a hydrocarbon in the presence of methane and thereafter mixiing said cracked mixture Witha combustible 2. The process ofproducing carbon black from methaney which comprises mixing a ycrackable hydrocarbon lvvith the methane, subjecting the mixture to a cracking'temperature and thereafter Vburning the mixture to form carbon black. v -f l 3. The process of producing ycarbon black With` methane which comprisesV mixinga vcrackable hydrocarbon with the methane, f subjecting the mixture to a cracldng temperae ture7 adding the cracked mixture to further quantities of methane and thereaftery burning to carbon black.

4. The process of heavier than methane to takeV place in the presence of methane other thank that which may be produced by the cracking of the heavy hydrocarbons and thereafter treating eous product so producedrto yobtain carbon black. f.

6. The process of producingrcarbon black by cracking a mineral oilin the presenceof methane over and above any Vresulting from the oil so cracked: and. thereaftertreatingthe producing Acarbon black by" causing the crackingfof hydrocarbons `15 kEMERIC KROCH.

resulting gas mixture for the production of 1 carbon black. Y 7 The process of producing carbon black y Whicheomprises charging ages comprising 5 methane rWith a mineral oil, 'subjecting the mixture to cracking Conditions for cracking thefoil, and thereafter decomposingr said. mixtureunder conditions adapted to producefearbon black] j 10 '8.V The process of produoing'carbon black Y Which comprises forming a mixture of meth" Y ane and a vaporized mineral oil and cracking Y said oil in the presence of the said methane. v

Intestimony whereof I ax my signature. 

